Then, it was past, and he sensed something momentous had happened though he had no clue what it might be. Quickly moving to the window, he looked outside, wondering if there might have been something that fell over the windows, but it was simply night outside. “That’s impossible,” he muttered softly, his eyes searching for anything that might explain why hours had passed.
A gasp behind him made him turn, and he saw Piper looking at him with her hand over her mouth. The look on her face said she was also struggling with whatever had affected him, and another quick glance showed the nurse blinking and staring around herself with equal confusion.
But there was also something else; something that sat like a bonfire between all of them. Recognition of some sort that flashed just on the edge of Alex’s consciousness and stayed there, forcing him to acknowledge that they were part and parcel of him now.
Slowly, he leaned to the side to look around his sister and his eyes met with the fourth person in the room. His grandmother had pushed herself up from the bed and was looking back at him. Her eyes were brighter than they’d been in a decade, but she had the same bemused expression on her face that he felt on his own.
“Alex?” She asked softly into the room. “What is going on?”
Chapter 3
Time: July 13, 2023
Location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
“Alex!” Johan Olmstead called in his heavy accent, walking up to the younger man under the beating sun of Dubai. He was wearing a suit and a hard hat as he trotted up to Alex, his long Scandinavian face smiling even as he covered his eyes from the glare from the ocean. “Here to see your success, my friend? Quite a site, eh? Five years ago we were scrambling to save this project, but now, can you believe it? Three times as big and completed in an eighth of the time as the original projection!”
Alex followed the older man’s sweeping hand as they stood at the entrance road to the newest jewel in the Dubai mega-city. Called Dubai Jimbiya, it was a massive thrust of solid land created in the likeness of a curved dagger that provided a break-water for several other of the man-made islands. Miles of new coastline had been built, populated by high-end shopping centers, homes, and hotels placed like jewels along its scabbard and hilt.
“Some would call it a miracle,” Johan continued, taking in the fantastic feat of engineering. “I still don’t understand half of the process, even after you’ve explained it all to us fifteen times. Still, your discovery of how to solidify sand and other silicates into something far harder than concrete in such a fluid manner has been more than a boon. The rulers of Dubai have been eating it up, and we’re starting to get keen interest from North Africa and other places. Being able to grow base ingredients like sand or soil into any shape made it almost like 3D printing and just as fast.”
“It doesn’t hurt at how cheap it is, either,” Alex agreed, laughing softly and eliciting one from his boss.
The older man clapped him on the shoulder and nodded. “Ah yes, that doesn’t hurt at all,” Johan said, waving forward the burgundy and gold extra-long golf cart that he’d climbed out of. “Let me give you a ride the rest of the way. I have something to talk to you about.” Both men waited, then climbed into the rear seats as the driver moved them along the bridge that led to the first part of the new island.
All of the buildings facing the land were finished, coupled with extensive greenery and fantastic decorations. Farther back there was still many unfinished lots of land, but they had wanted the areas facing the city to be finished, giving an exquisite view to anyone seeing it from afar. It wasn’t quite the site from the sea yet, but in time, it would be.
They drove between the feet of a massive standing statue of the currently ruling Sheikh atop the six-lane road, formed as one single piece from various colored sands. The robes made an enormous cover from the sun that cars would travel under for centuries to come. The glorious thing had been even more unimaginable than the island it sat on decades earlier. At three hundred meters tall, it was not the tallest of the creations on Dubai Jimbiya which would have surprised engineers only five years earlier.
The creation of it should have taken decades, but with Alex’s process, it had been a matter of four months to truck in enough material and form it into the symbol of power it now was. The most significant difficulty had been getting the artist and the engineers to communicate effectively, but somehow, they’d managed. Beyond it were skyscrapers that matched those on the mainland, made possible by the more-than-solid foundation. Some of these were traditional creations of steel and glass, undertaken by those not trusting of using instacrete but others flowed up like various works of art, twisting and turning in ways unheard of due to the strength of the new building process.
Instead of heading toward one of those, the cart drifted with its electrical hum toward a smaller, more humble building if one that was still graceful and fully formed. It was the main offices for Olmstead Enterprises they were using for the completion of the island, rising only three stories with towering palms and water features sparkling in the sunlight. Johan and Alex both headed inside and toward the top floor, arriving in the simply decorated office on the corner closest to the ocean.
The older man sat behind the desk, slapping it lightly as he met Alex’s eyes with a steady gaze. “Alex. I remember when I first took note of your name in our conferences. You were a smart young man, but I would never have imagined how much we would change the world. Do you remember what you first said to me when you came to Amsterdam?”
“I do, sir,” Alex said. “I asked you if you were a gambler.”
“Ha! Yes! Exactly!” Johan said, letting out a belly laugh. “And I told you that I was, but there is a fine line between gambling and foolishness. And then? You looked me right in the eye and told me I was no fool, but I would be if I let you walk out of the room without hearing what you had to say.”
“I remember. I’m sorry I was so dramatic, but I had to make sure you listened,” Alex said. The solution to their engineering problem with the Dubai project had come to him as if out of thin air not long after his Grandmother’s mysterious recovery. The problem was the company he worked for had a strict clause that any patent or invention he created would become their property, not his.
He could not explain it, but he knew that would be a disaster. His only hope was to go to the owner of Olmstead Enterprises, the architect firm that had led the development in Dubai and brought the company Alex worked for onto the project. The man was known to be a visionary and someone who was willing to take unusual risks. Many times in the past, he had made decisions that had earned him ridicule for bad business sense, but in most cases, it had earned him more than his greed driven competitors.
Alex remembered how desperate he’d been, taking the opportunity to fly to Copenhagen to speak to this man. It had seemed like a crazy risk, but something deep in his gut told him it was the right move. It hadn’t hurt that Piper, Helen the nurse, and his grandmother had also told him that was the right course of action. None of them had a substantial reason for it other than it felt right. It had been the right choice because not only had Johan hired him, but had granted him control of the patent as well as a significant raise once he’d explained his idea.
“Nonsense, boy,” Johan said, waving his hand as if dismissing a bad wind. “I would have been a fool, perhaps the greatest of fools if I had not listened to you. The lead engineers of my company curse my name every night for allowing you to keep ownership of instacrete and only lease it to us. Every night! But every night, guess how I sleep? Like a baby and do you know why?”
Alex grinned, returning the old man’s smile. “No, but I suspect you’re going to tell me.”
Johan chuckled, nodding as he pulled open a drawer and pulled out two glasses and a bottle of amber liquid. He poured a few fingers in each, sliding one of the drinks over to Alex before continuing. “Yes, I am going to tell you. It’s not so much a riddle, but something that you and I share. Something far more imp
ortant. It is because money is not why I am here on this earth. It is because I am here for humanity.”
Raising his glass, Alex mirrored Johan as they both took a drink, savoring the expensive whiskey. “To humanity,” Alex said. “You’ve proven that is your intention and more over the years. I’ve been happy with my decision since I’ve come to work with you, Johan, but you didn’t come all this way just to have a drink with me, did you?”
The older man put his bent finger to the side of his nose and nodded. “Wise boy, and you’d be correct. I know you have far more up in that brilliant head of yours than just one miracle. Far more, and I want to be a part of it. Still, that is what I want, but it also depends on what you want. Tell me, young Alex,” he said, pulling out a thick sheaf of papers and sliding it across the desk toward Alex. “Do you see an old man in your plans?”
Alex took a deep breath, giving Johan a long, steady look before glancing down at the papers. He turned the pages, reading through the summary. Each word only increased his bafflement at what he was seeing. “You… you’re giving me the company?”
Johan waved his hand dismissively. “Selling. Not for much, as you can see, but you’d be buying it.”
“For a dollar,” Alex stated.
“For a dollar,” Johan confirmed, giving the younger man a bright grin. “I’d be staying on in an advisory capacity, of course, with a substantial salary I might add. But yes, you would be the new owners.”
Alex could only stare for a long moment. His admiration and respect for the man had only grown with time. He knew that his plans ultimately would require a deep well of resources and infrastructure and Alex knew it would take time to develop it on his own, but if he could get Johan and his company on board, it would make things easier. Could he trust telling him his far reaching plans?
It was a risk, but there was a clear buzzing in the back of his head. It had returned periodically since his grandmother’s near-death, popping up at critical points in his life to a lesser or greater degree. All four of them had shared this, and right now it was practically vibrating his ears off.
This was the next step.
Alex nodded, reaching across the desk and grasping Johan’s hand, shaking it firmly. “Yes, Yes I do, and you are right about one thing. There are a lot more miracles ahead, but first, we’re going to need to build our own island.”
“One like this?”
“Oh, no. Much bigger.”
Chapter 4
Time: August 1, 2027
Location: Empyrean Island, Pacific Ocean
Piper squealed as she stepped off of the helicopter, racing out onto the perfect sandy beach that practically glowed under the Pacific sun. A faint whirring quickly followed her as her Drone Personal Assistant, or DPA boosted its small fan blades to keep up. The exterior of the device wasn’t overly complicated, being only four drone blades and a circular pillar ringed by mini-cameras, but the interior was something else entirely.
Piper had always been fascinated by electronics, mechanics, and computers, but after the night that her grandmother had been returned to her, her interest had turned into something else entirely. For some reason, she found herself almost re-learning everything she’d been taught, then expanding on it in an ever-increasing circle. Despite her meteoric progress, she always felt frustrated at her pace, even after having attended, and breezed through, MIT.
Five years later, she had earned her doctorate in all three disciplines in record time, quickly attracting the top research teams and companies on the planet. Instead, she had retreated to her grandmother's farm, seemingly rejecting all of her prospects. Instead she had focused on perfecting them on her own. The most challenging part had merely been restraining herself from tapping too heavily into the local power grid.
Of all the things she’d been working on, her very favorite project was the DPA. It was a mobile personal assistant platform that followed her like a loyal pet. She had been forced to use it only within the confines of her home in Oregon, but now on their new island, she could keep it with her all the time. Despite its size, it held significant computing power and abilities that would have shocked most people.
“Tad, show me the layout of the island,” Piper said, coming to a stop a few feet from where the current tide was dampening the sand.
“Yes, miss,” Tad said in his computerized voice, coming to a stop and hovering next to her before projecting a holographic picture in front of them both. It was difficult to see due to the brightness of the sun and sand, but after a moment, Tad adjusted the coloring enough to make out the picture. Slowly, an image of the island they were standing on appeared. The statistics appearing to the right of the image showed the almost perfectly formed island was precisely thirty by thirty miles in a circle.
The only blemish was toward the north where several barrier reefs had been formed, protecting an artificial bay designed to receive shipping, though only one lone pier had been constructed to date. Piper knew that the rest of the island would be expanded, with only the northern shore remaining where it was. Even now, several large subs were busily drawing up and solidifying the seamount they had chosen for their home base.
After Alex had joined with Johan, forming a new company called Empyrean, they had spent two years finding the perfect spot in the Pacific Ocean and making sure its placement would serve their purposes. The creation of the island itself had finally broken above the sea two years later, and six months after that, the shells of the first buildings had gone up.
This was the first day that Piper and her grandmother had been able to take up residence. Helen had been here for a few months already, making sure the island was occupied by greenery and a balance of wildlife that thrived in the tropical climate, but since most of the labs and work areas were still under construction, it would have been a waste to come out earlier.
“Can you find out where Helen is located? I’d like to see her,” Piper asked Tad after admiring what her brother had built.
“Yes, miss. Doctor Helen Harken is located at the following location,” Tad said politely. As he spoke, a red dot appeared on the map very near to Piper’s location.
“I think I know where that is,” Piper said, gazing back at the rough direction she thought the dot was located. As she spoke, the map disappeared, and a red arrow appeared in its place, pointing in a direction not quite the one that Piper had been looking. “Well, I thought I did. Come on, Tad!”
Piper ran off, taking a wide turn around the now silent helicopter as she followed the arrow that Tad projected for her. It wound through several sparsely populated walkways between glossy tan buildings and clumps of tall palms surrounded by various ferns and tropical flowers. Her path brought her to the edge of what looked like a walking garden, fitted as a green space within a large central square.
Instead of the surrounding buildings, the arrow took her within the garden, crossing small footbridges that arched over shallow waterways until she came to a small nook. An older woman kneeled, examining a set of nondescript plants from under a large hat that covered her features. Tad’s red arrow pointed right at her, blinked a few times, and then faded out.
“Doctor Harken, as you requested, miss,” Tad said before going into a waiting hover by Piper’s shoulder.
At the sound of the voice, the woman stood and turned, smiling brightly at Piper before opening her arms wide. Her face was younger and more vibrant than it had been ten years earlier. Another result of the events of the night that Colleen Drake passed away. “Piper! You made it! I hope the flight wasn’t too long?”
“Ugh! Way too long,” Piper said as she embraced Helen warmly. “There aren’t very many places to stop in the middle of the ocean. At least I got to ride on one of the company’s new planes. Much faster and smoother. It’s a shame we have to fit them in the old style fuselage.”
Helen nodded before releasing Piper from her hug. “But necessary. At least you can have your little buddy flying around your shoulder all the time now. Did you
manage to get his battery problem worked out? A lot of the scientists here have been looking forward to getting their DPAs.”
Piper nodded, turning and holding her hand out. Tad immediately floated over, landing softly in her palm. It didn’t even weigh a pound so posed no problem for Piper to hold up. “I did. The new energy cells are about twenty percent more efficient and produce enough power for constant activity for several days. Also, they are geared to use the wireless power we provide on the island and other facilities.
“How many did you bring with you?”
“About five hundred of the lighter units, like Tad here. Only twenty of the heavier units. I’ve still got some things I’m tweaking with them, but they will have quite a lot more processing power than Tad. They don’t hover, but they should provide a boost to some of the higher level research.”
“I hope they can take a bit of dirt and grime,” Helen said. “I’ll need them to be able to noodle around in the gardens and out in the brush, not that it’s that much of a jungle yet. Still, hopefully, they’ll be fairly rugged.”
“Not the big ones, but the small ones are watertight and can link in with the larger versions. They will serve you better outside anyway, being able to fly.” Piper paused, looking over at the nubs on the plant Helen had been working with. “So, is this one of your experiments or just a pretty plant you’re putting in the garden?”
Helen smiled, turned and took a step back over to the plant. “A bit of both. It’s one of my earlier successes in producing programmable plants. At least, somewhat. Depending on what we need, this little darling can make several different kinds of medicinal compounds depending on the DNA we implant. It also makes a beautiful set of blue-white flowers with a delicate aroma.” Helen reached down, caressing some of its leaves. “However, out here in the square, it will mostly just be for show.”
“It looks wonderful. I didn’t know we were shipping in mature plants.”
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